Justice on Trial: The Appeal Case Against a 2-Month Prison Sentence for a CBD Joint
It was back in August 2021 following another raid of a CBD store and the store owners home which prompted the organising of a short notice protest in Dungarvan, Waterford, in support of “Releaf”, the popular local CBD business being targeted by the Gardaí. The Gardaí went too far this time taking the owner of the store from his family home and holding him overnight in a cold & damp concrete cell. Other stores and homes of these business owners had been targeted but this was the first we (The Cannabis Activist Alliance) had heard of owners being held in a cell overnight like some sort of dangerous hardened criminal.
Following the release of the owner of ReLeaf we decided it would be appropriate to hold a protest in the town that weekend, so with less than 5 days notice we got the word out of a protest being held in Dungarvan through the various social media channels and online networks available to us. We met in Walton Park in Dungarvan that afternoon and from there a group of about 50 marched through the town of Dungarvan. The crowd that day was made up of a number of customers of ReLeaf some of who were kids that used CBD products to help with the symptoms of their conditions, products which they had to go without at times as a result of raids on ReLeaf.
After marching through the town we finished marching at the Dungarvan gardai station which was also the station that the owner of ReLeaf was held overnight in. Once we arrived at the garda station we made our presence known by letting out some chants and also using the megaphone to speak through. The owner of Releaf spoke that day, Steph a CAA member spoke and I spoke myself too. We also lit up some cannabis joint in protest while chanting things like “Garda Larkin Stop Your Barkin” in the garda station car park, that was in reference to one of the guards that raided the owners home .
Following the display of mass civil disobedience in the car park, one which at one point resulted in the guards closing a nearby window that was down wind from us, myself , Steph and the owner of Releaf entered the guard station. We entered the guard station with the intention of presenting ourselves as being in possession of a “cbd joint”, which is a hand rolled herbal cigarette with less than 0.2%THC. This is a product that is stocked in ReLeaf. The guard came out and didn’t know what to make of the situation and was aware of the protest we had held outside the station too, they were probably hoping we’d just go away.
The guard dealt with each of us individually which took some time and highlights how much time is wasted enforcing this law in the first place. The “suspected” cannabis was seized and sent for analysis . Steph had handed in some decoy raspberry leaf which didn’t test positive for cannabis so he never heard anymore but myself and the owner of ReLeaf had a positive result for cannabis from our samples. This was expected as the test only tests for the presence of THC and not the level of THC. As the owner of ReLeaf has an ongoing High court case relating to CBD products his case in relation to this was swept into all that.
However my case was dealt with rather swiftly when compared to the courts in Cork city. In just a few months following the protest I had received a court date for the case. I showed up that day and was ready to represent myself but the judge didn’t want to have the case heard that day and only brought it up to accept jurisdiction. Then a series of unfortunate events unfolded for the future court dates for the next 1 I had caught covid 2 days before the court case and could go due to being in self isolation. Then the next date which was issued I was half way down the road to Dungarvan when I got a call to come home due to a family emergency. For the 3rd date issued I was made go into cork city court as the judge in Dungarvan had issued a warrant for me despite me notifying the Dungarvan gardaí of the reasons for my absence from court on those dates.
Luckily the guard who was executing the warrant allowed me to show up to the court myself and didn’t arrest me and hold me overnight to be brought to court which was within her power to do. I showed up to Cork city district court explained my situation and the judge was sound about it, telling me just make sure to show up in Dungarvan for the next court date which I did.
I showed up in Dungarvan alongside my solicitor who also represents the owner of Releaf. The judge called my case & I approach the front of the court near my solicitor . I can see the judge is pretty pissed about my case and it quickly became apparent he was pissed because of me not showing up the first 2 times. My solicitor tries to explain but the judge was having none of it. He pretty much just asks if I have any previous convictions for section 3 misuse of drugs act to which the court clerk replied that I had 9. That was all the judge needed to hear he said “Its about time a custodial sentence teaches me a lesson” and handed me a 2 month prison sentence.
Then just to rub salt into the wounds, the judge refused to let me get the appeal/bail money from my bag that was with a friend at the back of the court and I was taken away to the Dungarvan garda station and held in the cell there for 4 hours. When the judge came back from his lunch break he accepted the money and I was let out of the cell. I was very distressed at this point as I don’t do well in a cell, it took me a day or 2 to come back down from this incident.
Thursday the 21st of December, 4 days before Santa is to arrive to my 4 kids, I have to go before the Dungarvan circuit court to appeal this 2 month prison sentence for a protest with a cbd joint. I cant see another judge upholding such a backwards sentence but then again I could get 1 that gives me a heavier sentence. Not for a second do I ever want to be behind bars again but I’m more than willing to if I have to because the prohibition of Cannabis is wrong, it needs to be challenged and changed.
